Ireland were left counting the cost of reimbursing 5,100 fans after the first day of their inaugural Test against Pakistan was rained off at 3pm yesterday – 20 minutes before the saturated Malahide ground was bathed in sunshine.

Ireland were left counting the cost of reimbursing 5,100 fans after the first day of their inaugural Test against Pakistan was rained off at 3pm yesterday – 20 minutes before the saturated Malahide ground was bathed in sunshine.

“This rain-out will add €75,000 to the expense of staging the game,” said Warren Deutrom, the CEO of Cricket Ireland.

“Our insurance will only cover part of the cost of making the refunds but if you worried about the weather you would never play internationals – and that’s not an option.

“Even if we had been able to get on the pitch and play a number of overs after 5.0pm, it probably would have been an inappropriate and underwhelming way to make our bow in Test cricket.”

Deutrom revealed the capacity for the match is 6,300 – it will be 8,500 for the T20s against India next month with further temporary stands erected.

Terms and conditions state no refunds once one ball is bowled but a full reimbursement of the ticket price if there is no play at all.

Deutrom confirmed that 4,000 advance tickets have been sold for today’s action and that figure is now sure to swell by walk-ups keen to witness the historic first ball bowled in a Test match in Ireland.